Conceptions of Data Protection and Privacy: Legal and Philosophical Perspectives

This open access book offers a clear and concise overview of leading conceptions of data protection and privacy, exploring their social value through philosophical theorisations and European and US-American legal perspectives.

Featuring prominent experts and emerging scholars, the book presents diverse understandings to showcase the multifaceted interests and values embedded in the concepts of data protection and privacy. It links philosophical and legal perspectives on privacy to historical and contemporary rights struggles. The book also addresses privacy challenges posed by the digital revolution, including advances in AI, and recent efforts to safeguard privacy.

Aimed at scholars, researchers, and students in law and philosophy, the book covers key theoretical and legal positions on privacy and data protection. Legal practitioners will find insights into landmark EU and US constitutional decisions, such as the German Constitutional Court’s Census Decision and Carpenter v United States. Additionally, it is valuable for anyone seeking to understand the legal and philosophical foundations of globally influential regulations like the GDPR and the AI Act.

The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY NC ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law.

Elisa Orrù is Senior Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law and Associate Professor at Freiburg University, Germany.
Ralf Poscher is Director at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law, Germany.